Head: Process Demonstration, Pyrometallurgy Division, Mintek
Herman Lagendijk (57) has a BEng degree in chemical engineering from the
University of Pretoria. He has been employed at Mintek for over 30 years in
the pyrometallurgical discipline. As Head: Process Demonstration, he manages
a small group of engineers and technicians who take on projects from laboratory
to pilot-plant scale. A recent project saw the group coordinating a toll-smelting
campaign with the secondment of ~50 personnel to a project involving the processing
of PGM-containing tailings, and producing an atomized metal powder product.
Herman's expertise lies in the following areas:
Smelting of ferronickel using DC arc furnace technology
Production of manganese ferro-alloys in submerged-arc furnaces
Aluminothermic reduction of concentrates of reactive metals
including zirconium, titanium, and niobium
Smelting, condensation, and distillation of zinc from various
types of wastes
Comparative testing of various refractory types in a range of
process applications